BB-9E

"BB-9E was a jet-black BB-series astromech who patrolled the First Order flagship, Supremacy, serving his masters with ruthless efficiency."

―R0-GR^[4]

BB-9E was a black-plated BB-series astromech droid in the service of the First Order. A top-of-the-line astromech droid, during the New Republic Era, BB-9E served aboard Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the Supremacy, keeping machinery operational and upholding security procedures.

During the First Order-Resistance War, BB-9E discovered that the Supremacy had been infiltrated by Resistance operatives. As a result of the droid's actions, Captain Phasma's stormtroopers arrested Finn, Rose Tico, and DJ before they could disable the Supremacy's hyperspace tracker.

Biography

BB-9E was a droid that served aboard the Supremacy. — BB-9E was a droid that served aboard the *Supremacy*.

Manufactured by Industrial Automaton,^[1] the droid BB-9E was the property of the First Order military,^[6] one of many units that were relied on to keep machinery operational and uphold procedures aboard the First Order Navy's warships.^[2] During the New Republic Era, a war broke out between the Resistance and the First Order, as the latter set out to conquer the galaxy in the wake of the New Republic's destruction. By then,^[5] BB-9E was assigned to the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy—the flagship of Supreme Leader Snoke^[6]—where it performed its usual duties by keeping machinery, procedures, and potential intruders in check.^[7]

Following the assault on D'Qar, a flotilla of Resistance starships was tracked through hyperspace and attacked by a fleet of First Order Resurgent-class Star Destroyers, led by the Supreme Leader's command ship. While the attack was in progress, BB-9E located three intruders—Resistance technician Rose Tico, the renegade stormtrooper FN-2187 "Finn," and the freelance slicer "DJ"—who infiltrated the Supremacy. BB-9E exposed the would-be saboteurs before they could disable the flagship's advanced active tracker system, resulting in their capture by Captain Phasma and her troopers. The Resistance droid BB-8, escaped the First Order's notice, however.^[5]

Characteristics

Like BB-8, BB-9E was a BB-series astromech droid.

BB-9E was a top-of-the-line astromech droid,^[7] belonging to the BB-series astromech droid model. The droid was vigilant, utilizing a sharp photoreceptor—in every spectrum—against infiltrators, saboteurs and other threats to Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship.^[2] Due to the First Order's view on droids, BB-9E was treated simply as a machine, resulting in a cold personality even for a droid that belonged to the normally friendly BB-unit model. Though subjected to regular memory wipes in order to remain subservient and docile,^[8] BB-9E had developed a malevolent personality. It was especially malicious when reporting transgressions.^[6]

A dark, gleaming BB astromech unit,^[2] BB-9E had black-plating and a red,^[5] multi-spectrum photoreceptor with telescoping lens.^[6] Standing at 0.6 meters in height,^[3] BB-9E featured a distinctive square dome for a head^[5] and grilled openings to permit ventilation as well as enhanced sensor transparency.^[6]

Equipment

Boasting the latest technology in the First Order,^[2] BB-9E was armed with a shock prod and possessed an array of tools for various purposes, including technical support and combat.^[7]

Behind the scenes

BB-9E was first revealed when several LEGO sets' packaging for Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi-themed sets leaked on May 26, 2017.^[9] The droid was officially introduced in a preview for the Force Friday II products, released on August 31, 2017.^[10] BB-9E also acted as one of the three droids of the "App-Enabled Droids" app AR game by Sphero alongside R2-D2 and BB-8, with BB-9E in particular giving a tour of the Supremacy.^[11] The droid made his first appearance in the non-canon Star Wars Blips episode "Hey You," where he had a run in with BB-8.^[12]

BB-9E was nicknamed "BB-H8," as in "hate," on the set of The Last Jedi.^[13]

During the early development of The Last Jedi, BB-9E went almost three different designs made by Luke Fisher and Jake Lunt Davies before the final one which was featured in the finished version of the film.^[14]^[15] Every design mostly affected the droid's head. Additionally, its original name was going to be BB-Hate in order, according to droid and creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan, to demonize BB-8.^[14]